Profiling bed

[tre]

We have seen the Consultant and OT recently and both have noted the marked deterioration in my husband. He has had four falls since Christmas although luckily none has resulted in permanent injury. His mobility is much reduced and now he is sitting or lying down for long periods every day. The district nurse has been to advise on avoiding pressure sores and it has now been agreed he will have a profiling bedat home.
He cannot be left alone at night so this means our bed will need to be moved to another bedroom and it seems there is just enough room for our bedroom to accommodate the profiling bed and the single bed from the other bedroom beside it .
The equipment service will provide the bed but will not move any other furniture . There is no way I can move even the mattress on our double bed on my own and it will all need to be done on the same day the profiling bed is delivered. The district nurse said she will ask her manager. It is possible that Age UK might help. We have no family locally who could assist. How have others worked this out?
Also, does anyone know what sort of linen would be best on the profiling bed? I am told it is around six inches longer than a standard bed so wonder if my fitted sheets will be of any use.
Tre

 

[marionq]

I notice that our day care centre can put people in touch with handymen who would do that kind of job for you. What volunteer services are in your area? Age UK or Alz Soc might know and put you in touch.

 

[jeany123]

Tre this might be useful to you,
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/home-safety-and-security/handyperson-services/

 

[tre]

This is probably the sort of thing the district nurse is talking about. I am hoping she will tell me what I need to do.
Apparently the equipment service cannot help because of health and safety issues. I wonder who cares about my health and safety as an unsupported carer with osteoporosis. However, I am really glad we are getting a profiling bed which will apparently have cot sides and bumpers as some nights I have to get up five or six times to put my husbands feet back in as he tends to get in a diagonal position with them hanging over the edge and cannot work out how to put them back in for himself. I need to be mindful of this for if he slips to the floor he cannot get himself up and neither can I on my own. His dementia is such that he cannot follow instructions.
Tre

 

[Aitchbee]

Hi Tre. Mum has a profiling bed and we use a flat sheet rather than a fitted sheet

 

[lin1]

Hi . I used to use mums double fitted sheets with no problems on her profiling bed , I did have to tuck them in. This was nearly five years ago now , so the bed design may have changed.
What you could do with a flat sheet, is ensure the foot area is covered by the sheet and either leave the pillow area of the mattress uncovered, it can be wiped clean, or cut up some sheets so they can go under the pillow area.

My memory of mum's bed is, yes the bed itself is longer because of the frame fittings and gaps but the mattress itself was normal of normal length, hopefully you will find the same, so I wouldn't do any adaptions to sheets before the bed arrives as I think you will find the same.

I hope you find someone to help you move you original bed. The people who delivered and set mums bed up. were very helpful and offered assistance in moving the double bed, fortunately we didn't need help as it was quite light to move so fingers crossed they will help you if needed.

PS
As their is a risk of pressure sores, I hope they are also providing a special air flow mattress as well

 

[lin1]

Duplication

 

[tre]

Thank you both. I think I will dig out the little used linen from the back of the airing cupboard to see what I have to work with and then at least we will have something to tide us over until I know exactly what is needed.
I have to say that an air mattress was mentioned at one point but I am not sure exactly what we will get until it comes.
Tre

 

[Izzy]

My husband has a hospital bed. Not sure if that's the same as a profiling bed or not. Our single fitted sheets fit the mattress.